Slingbox finally reaches Australia
Looking on with envy at our US friends, the Slingbox range has been on our wish list for a while. Never fear fellow Aussies, it's almost here!
- Ty was nominated for Best New Journalist at the Australian IT Journalism awards, but he has only ever won one thing. As a youth, he was awarded a free session for the photography studio at a local supermarket.
Looking on with envy at our US friends, the Slingbox range has been on our wish list for a while. Never fear fellow Aussies, it's almost here!
The Slingbox Pro has an on-board tuner
(Credit: Sling Media)
In late March 2009, the family of Sling Media products — the Slingbox Pro, Slingbox Solo and SlingCatcher — will be available in Australia.
Slingbox is designed to enable users to watch their TV from anywhere within the house or anywhere in the world with a compatible web browser. It's particularly useful for users of Foxtel iQ, PVRs or similar products as they can watch live or recorded programs wherever they happen to be. Sling Media recommends a 256Kbps ADSL connection or higher if you want to stream anywhere out of the house, though.
If you have a compatible 3G mobile — such as a BlackBerry, Palm, Windows Mobile and soon the iPhone — you can use SlingPlayer Mobile to access your TV as well.
The two Slingbox units connect via composite, S-Video or component to your set-top box and are controlled via the Slingbox.
The Slingbox Solo, as the name suggests, allows for the connection of a single AV source and includes a pass-through for the chosen input, and it will be available for AU$349.
The Slingcatcher allows you to watch a Slingbox on another TV (Credit: Sling Media)
The Slingbox Pro allows for the connection of up to three separate sources and also includes an integrated analog/digital TV tuner. All inputs have a pass-through, and the unit will be available for AU$499.
The SlingCatcher, on the other hand, is the most recent product and is essentially a hardware version of the software Slingbox player, with a couple of extra features. It allows customers to access and control any device connected to a Slingbox, and allows you to watch it on another TV. The SlingCatcher also allows you to watch online videos from any popular internet site, and will enable you to watch media stored on USB drives. It will be available for AU$499.